Nigeria international goalkeeper Francis Uzoho says he is not in competition with the duo of Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Daniel Akpeyi rather he is in a battle with Maduka Okoye for the number one spot of the senior national team of Nigeria.

Uzoho who has alternated his role as first choice with the duo says he doesn’t see them as his competitors because they are way older than him. He said it’s Okoye who is about his age that he sees as his threat of becoming the first choice goalkeeper of the senior national team of Nigeria.

Okoye has just one cap for Nigeria but Uzoho said he has seen enough in training to suggest that the 20 year old who is close to joining Sparta Rotterdam on a free transfer from Fortuna Dusseldorf has what it takes to upstage him.

“It is different. I am a young guy and still have a long way to go. Daniel (Akpeyi) is thirty-two years old and Ezenwa is thirty so they are not going to be there for a long time. That is why I was a little less worried”, he said.

“Assuming it was, say, Maduka (Okoye) or someone else within my age that stripped me of my position I would have been more bothered.

“Maduka is close to my age. If he was the one that stripped me, I would have been a bit more worried because of the competition. I am not saying Daniel and Ezenwa are not competition, but they are above 30 so I have enough time to play my game and get my shirt back,” Uzoho concluded.

Former Super Eagles forward Osaze Odemwingie says he will persuade his sons Theo and Noah to accept the option of playing for Nigeria ahead of other countries that they are eligible to represent, Owngoalnigeria.com reports.

Odemwingie who played for Nigeria from 2002 to 2012 says although his sons are eligible to represent Russia, England or Nigeria his aim is to make them see reasons why they should play for Nigeria and not any other country if they become successful professional footballers.

Now retired, the outspoken fair skinned striker said he is already preparing them towards representing Nigeria by playing Nigerian music regularly either in the car at home. He said the idea is to give them a feel of what it takes to be Nigerian.

“I will encourage them. Even though they have different roots: British, Russia, Nigeria, I am encouraging them and preparing their minds towards representing Nigeria”, Odemwingie said.

“I am already raising future strikers. We often play Nigerian music, either in the car or at home, sometimes. The true passion of Nigerian fans; it’s not something you learn, you are born with it.

“It’s raw talents in Nigeria and if you look at performance of players like Taribo West, Sunday Oliseh or Taye Taiwo, their performance is not something you learn, we don’t really have such academies like we have in Europe, but the players still come out with their raw talents, that’s why I enjoyed my time in the Super Eagles so much because of the talents in the team”.

Ade Emmanuel 

The goalkeeper of the senior national team of Nigeria Daniel Akpeyi will be issued a South African passport later this year after spending five years in the rainbow nation which qualifies him for citizenship.

Akpeyi moved to South Africa in 2015 from Nigeria Professional Football League ( NPFL) side Warri Wolves when he teamed up with Chippa United. He made his name at the club before departing for Kaizer Chiefs in January.

The move to the PSL giants has so far proved to be a huge success as he has kept long term first choice Itumuleng Khune on the bench after posting man of the match performances while the South Africa number one goalkeeper was injured.

From next season the 33 year old will be registered as a South African in the PSL freeing up space for his team to sign another foreign player to beef up their squad as they are likely to play in the CAF Champions League owing to the fact that they are runaway leaders of the league.

Ade Emmanuel 

Victor Osimhen has decided against leaving French Ligue 1 side Lille in this transfer windown despite having more than six offers to move to a bigger team in a league ranked higher than Ligue 1, Owngoalnigeria.com understands.

Osimhen took Ligue 1 by storm with 18 goals in his first season at the club despite the fact that the league was declared over with some games to spare which would have likely seen him increase his tally in Ligue 1 beyond 13.

As expected his form alerted top European teams and Lille were opened to the idea of letting him leave to recoup their investment in the 21 year old but the forward has decided against a move away as he want to consolidate his form by spending another season at the club.

” Osimhen has informed Lille that he won’t be leaving the club this summer. For now that is he stand but anything can change. The idea is to have him play another season and establish himself properly before leaving Lille. It’s a decision that have been communicated to the club”, a member of his new management team told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” There have been some offers but the player decided against it. I think we had as many as six the last time out but his decision to remain at the club for another season is our proposal for Lille to accept”.

Daniel Martins

Nigeria U17 forward Olakunle Olusegun is closing in on a deal to join French Ligue 1 side Reims few months after completing a move to Danish side Fremad from Nigeria National League (NNL) outfit ABS FC.

Kunle as the forward who scored just once at the 2019 U17 World Cup is called by friends and close associates has already held extensive talks with the club after completing 18 on the 23rd of April.

The forward who finished as top scorer with five goals at the WAFU U17 Championship which served as qualifiers for the Africa U17 Cup of Nations ‎failed to live up to his potentials in subsequent tournaments but did enough to earn a move to Fremad of Denmark.

“Kunle’s move to Reims is 80% done. Terms of the transfer is now been worked out by all parties involved but a fee is yet to be agreed as clubs are still looking at how to sort their finances due to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on their funds”, a source close to the deal told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” The believe is that the deal will go through at the end of the day because the fee involved isn’t that big but for now it’s around 85% done with both parties eager to close the deal for imminent announcement “.

Daniel Martins

Reports from France indicate that Nigeria international winger Moses Simon has verbally agreed a switch to Rennes when his loan move from Levante to Nantes is made permanent, Owngoalnigeria.com understands.

Simon had a season considered by many as his best till date with nine goals and nine assists before the league was declared over due to the coronavirus pandemic. ‎His form made Nantes to openly declare their interest in signing him permanently.

The idea is for Nantes to sign him for the agreed fee of €5 million from Levante and trade him off immediately for a fee in the region of around €15 to €20 million by the time the transfer window opens in Europe.

Already talks on signing him permanently have been held and in the same vein he has been given the go ahead to discuss with teams interested in his services and for now Nantes bitter rivals Rennes are leading the race for his signature.

Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered that he has even verbally agreed a move to the team with all personal terms sorted out with a transfer fee the only thing missing from the agreement ‎but that won’t be a problem.

His move will see Nantes make as high as €10 million as profit for his sale with Laliga side Levante getting less than €5 million due to their future sale agreement with Gent when the winger was signed in 2018. Levante will give 20% of the €5 million to Gent.

In order to avoid a loss of revenue, the club tried to convince Simon to turn down a move to Nantes permanently but he refused leaving the Ligue 1 side with all the powers to decide on his permanent signing which they have agreed to triggered when the window opens.

Daniel Martins 

Nigeria U23 defender Godfrey Bitok Stephen’s goal only counted as a consolation for Isloch as they fell 2-1 away at BGU Minsk, as the Belarusian League entered into its matchday 10.

Nigerian, Oluwaseun Gbolahan Adegbola came on at the 90th minute as he made his cameo but could do nothing to stop his side from losing while 20 year old midfielder, Abdulrazaq Yusuf was not dressed for the game.

The three Nigerians saw their club fall in their bid to close the gap with the top teams on the log. Bitok had struck the bar after displaying good footwork to go past his marker in the box before releasing a shot that came off the cross bar.

Yakhshiboev scored for the home team in the 13th minute before Bitok converted a penalty to put Isloch back into the game.The second half was a cagey affair as both sides couldn’t breach the backline.

On the 90th minute, Isloch thre in Nigerian defender, Gbolahan Adegbola to sure up things at the back but they ended up conceding a late goal in the last minute of the game.

Isloch are currently sixth on the log and are six point away from a European spot. They take on table-toppers BATE Borisov in their next game.

Godwin N

Super Eagles left-back Jamilu Collins could not rescue his side SC Paderborn as they were held to a one-all draw at home by TSG Hoffenheim in Matchday 27 of the German Bundesliga.

The Kaduna-born defender had a shaky start to the game but found his balance as the game progressed on a sunny afternoon at the Benteler-Arena.

The both goals in the game were scored in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Pavel Kaderabek combined with Robert Skov to put Hoffenheim ahead after four minutes. Both players caused a big trouble for Collins, attacking from Paderborn’s left side.

However, Dennis Srbeny restored parity for Paderborn in the ninth minute of the game.

Collins played the entire 90 minutes for Paderborn making two clearances and one off-the-line clearance. He made four successful interceptions, one tackle won and was dribbled past just once.

On the other side of the slope, the 25 year old lost possession 15 times and did not win any of his three attempted aerial duels.

Paderborn have won just once in their last ten games and currently sit bottom on the Bundesliga log. The side will be away to Augsburg on Wednesday night.

Godwin N

Newly called up Super Eagles forward Cyriel Dessers says he is warming up to the idea of pairing Lille forward Victor Osimhen in the attack of the senior national team of Nigeria.

Dessers scored 18 goals in the recently concluded Dutch season which was halted with games to spare due to the coronavirus crisis, same pandemic that led to the halting of the Ligue 1 where Osimhen scored 13 times for Lille.

The duo were supposed to lead the attack for Nigeria in the back to back AFCON 2021 Qualifiers game against Sierra Leone but the tie was postponed as with every other sporting events in the wake of the lockdown in most countries.

While the talks has been about who will get to play between the duo, Dessers has hinted that they can both play at the same time as he believe they can form the partnership that will fire Super Eagles to glory.

“I know it’s a young team, a lot of players playing in Europe, so I think that the adaptation would be fine and I hope when I come into the team they accept me.

“I am looking forward to seeing Victor Osimhen, I like to watch a lot of football and watch the strikers and I think he is a great striker, and I hope I can help him and support him”, he told BBC.com

Daniel Martins

Former Super Eagles striker Osaze Odemwingie says the ‎emergence of quick and skilful wingers in the senior national team of Nigeria has changed the way the team use to play in the past.

Odemwingie said the Super Eagles team of old has players with intimidating physical presence but that is not the case with the present breed of players in the team before pointing out the players who are changing the narrative.

“A lot of potential especially with the performance at the last AFCON in Egypt, they have a lot of passion, I will say we are going down in terms of size, not of the Super Eagles we are used to with physical presence but definitely with a lot of potential”, he said.

“Although Odion Ighalo and Kelechi Iheanacho with a little bit of physique, but looking at some others like Moses Simon, Henry Onyekuru, Samuel Chukwueze, Kalu and others, when you see their stature, you will be like Nigerian football is now turning to skills and speed, compared to the likes of Rashidi Yekini, Sunday Oliseh who played for the Eagles in the past.

In same vein he also called for a blend of experienced and young players in the team to give them the desire result citing the AFCON 2019 loss to Algeria as one that happened due to the experience of the Algerian team.

” I think we need to get the balance right. Football is not just about young legs running around, you need a lot of experience, you need exposure; we need to get the balance right. Looking back at the game against Algeria, a lot of talent, desire but maybe not enough experience and the Algerian team was a little bit older than our team on that day.

Ade Emmanuel